More Navy flyin' - tribute to the Blues of old

[southkogs]

Since I was pokin' fun at the Navy fliers a little earlier (over in Volphin's thread) , here's an olive branch and a raised glass to the fine fliers of the U.S. Navy and their excellent birds:

Blues Bearcat Web Video

I've gotten to work with the Blues one time and very much enjoyed it. I would have really enjoyed hanging out with these old guys and hearing their stories.

The Navy has had a bunch of good fighters over the years (F4U, F4 & F14 are a few favorites). The Bear (F8) didn't pack the biggest whollop, but it was a nimble little bugger that was probably a blast to fly.

 

[JoLin]

Re: More Navy flyin' - tribute to the Blues of old

That was very, very cool. You could see the memories flash across the guy's face as he sat in the cockpit toward the end.

It reminded me too of how many of my friends' parents, uncles, aunts, cousins worked for Grumman in Bethpage when I was a kid. Seemed like every wood-paneled basement had pics of Grumman fighters hanging on the wall.

 

[southkogs]

Re: More Navy flyin' - tribute to the Blues of old

2 years ago at a local air show I was working at, while on the flight line I met an old fella at the fence. We began talking about the F4U that had just flown formation with the Navy F-18 demonstrator (both sitting out in front of us on the tarmac). Turns out, he hadn't seen a functional F4U in nearly 40 years but he had over 450 combat missions in one during the Korean War.

I got with the pilot to see if we could give this guy a patch, button, photo … whatever! The pilot said, let's wheel him out here to have a look at the plane.

His wife, myself, 3 Marines, 1 Navy Pilot and the civilian who owned the Corsair were all wiping our eyes as this guy's whole world raced through his head at that plane. He touched that bird like being introduced to a newborn child, and lit up like you wouldn't believe.

Some of these older needle and ball fliers are made of some rocks the like of which we don't see very often in our world.

 

[Volphin]

Re: More Navy flyin' - tribute to the Blues of old

Oh wow, it is so awesome to see those old radials fire up! All Blues are special, and it's always great to salute former members.
No offense taken on previous post my friend.

Personally, I'm still miffed at the '13 NFDS scrub. I also know Tom was as well, but he handled it with more grace than I would have.

 

[southkogs]

Re: More Navy flyin' - tribute to the Blues of old

Oh wow, it is so awesome to see those old radials fire up!

Yeah, that initial belch of smoke and then the monster roars.

We got a chance to work with the CAF last year, and see several of their planes up close. Including FIFI:

I got to climb all over inside (WOW), and almost got a ride on board but it didn't work out. A few of my fellow CAP gang wound up flying with 'em and even got a little time up in the B/N bubble:

Personally, I'm still miffed at the '13 NFDS scrub. I also know Tom was as well, but he handled it with more grace than I would have.

2013 was a disappointing aviation year. While I enjoy the Blues and Birds, I would have enjoyed seeing someone else too. I had hoped instead of bagging our local show here they would maybe manage to get the Canadian Snowbirds in. They're a pretty impressive team too. But, nope.